


Not all those who wander are lost

by aimeewrites



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Kathryn Janeway Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:36:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27475891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aimeewrites/pseuds/aimeewrites
Summary: Janeway escorts Naomi Wildman on a foreign planet ... What can possibly go wrong ?
Relationships: Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

For the first time in what felt like months – and was probably months – Janeway was relaxing. They had found an M-class planet with friendly humanoid inhabitants, the Cornuni, who willing to trade with Voyager, and she had decided the crew had more than earned shore leave. On their third day, Chakotay had threatened to have her forcibly beamed to the planet if she didn’t go and get some off time, and she had agreed almost willingly to go. With her on the planet were several crew members, Neelix, who would never miss an opportunity to discover new foodstuff, Harry Kim and Naomi. The little girl had begged for the honour of accompanying the captain during her shore leave and Janeway hadn’t had the heart to tell her no. To be honest, she would rather have remained alone – enjoying a rare moment where she could be herself, Kathryn Janeway, and not Voyager’s captain. But she had seen the girl’s pleading eyes, had remembered her childhood, when she had begged to be with her father whenever he was home, because he was so rarely there, and she had yielded. And now, they were walking hand in hand in what appeared to be a market, very like European markets or Egyptian bazaars. Janeway wasn’t used to children, thought she made quite a good fist at mothering her crew, but luckily Naomi was doing all the talking, and as long as she nodded and smiled at appropriate moments, the girl seemed happy enough.

After arrays of fabrics, ready-made clothes and various objects, they had arrived at the food market. The air was full of exotic smells and after checking with her tricorder it was safe, Janeway bought them both something which looked – and tasted – much like pistachio ice cream. As they ate their ices, they strolled along until Janeway felt a sharp pull on her hand. She stopped and looked at what Naomi was staring, horrified.

“Oh”, Janeway murmured softly. This planet was really very Earth-like. The stall was full of various cuts of meat and half-skinned animals, some of them looking like rabbits, some of them like chickens. It did not overly shock her, as she had grown up in a rural community, where people still ate non-replicated meat. But she could understand Naomi’s appalled bewilderment. She tried to divert the child’s attention, but Naomi did not let herself be diverted: “Captain – what – what’s that?”

“Well…” Janeway cleared her throat, trying to find how to explain killing animals to eat them to a child born on a starship in the Delta Quadrant. “People used to do that on Earth too – actually, people still do that. They…they breed animals to…to consume them.” Then, thinking she might as well try to soften the pill, she added: “But hunting was banned a hundred years ago – now people who just kill animals for fun are committing a crime.”

Great… Now Naomi was staring at her with horror.

“But… But it’s wrong to kill,” said the child in a small voice. “That’s what – that’s what the Prime Directive says!”

Drat – now, how would she get out of that one. “It’s wrong to kill people, yes, but…Animals are not exactly like people.” And yet, she had often thought her Mollie was more human than some of her classmates at Starfleet Academy, for instance.

“Neelix told me we’re all animals,” murmured Naomi.

“Err – well, yes, that’s true – but… But we’re – we’re big, and we only eat…The small ones…” Janeway knew she was digging herself deeper and deeper, and since she couldn’t see a way out, she decided to take command. “Anyway, it’s getting late – come along, now, we need to get back to the ship!”

“No! I’m never going back there! I hate you!” screamed Naomi, as she ran off into the crowd.

Janeway waited a minute too long, sure the child would come back, before she gave pursuit. It was too late. There was no sign of the blonde little girl, and many of the natives were giving her dirty looks, as if she had been a child abuser – which, she supposed, in a way… Neelix had told her Naomi was “sensitive” – she had probably handled it all wrong. And now the child was lost on an unknown planet. She fiddled with her com badge and called Voyager.

“Captain!” replied Chakotay’s cheerful voice. “I thought I told you we would be fine – everything here is shipshape and Bristol-fashion. How’s your leave going?”

“I’ll explain later. Right now, I need you to send Tuvok and a security team – it’s Naomi. She’s – she’s disappeared.”

She cut the call off before he could make any comments. She really didn’t look forward to explaining her part in the matter, but the child would be found, and everything would be well…

Four hours later, she reconvened with Tuvok and the other search parties – her shoulders slumped as she realised all of the other parties had come back empty-handed as well. She had combed the market place as well, and although she had seen lots of children playing, she hadn’t seen Naomi. Tuvok reported they had found Naomi’s badge lying on the ground at the edge of the market place and Janeway felt her heart sink even lower – without the badge, it would be impossible to echo-locate the child. He told her he had alerted the local authorities, too, and although Janeway had wanted to avoid that, she knew it was for the best. She had an uneasy feeling, though, that it would have been better if they had found Naomi themselves. Not because the planet’s inhabitants did not like children. On the contrary, the Cornuri had a matriarchal society structure and seemed to dote on children. Theirs were polite, well-fed and looked pampered and happy. Janeway couldn’t imagine them looking kindly at a people who was able to lose one of its children… As the night was falling, new search teams beamed down and she left Tuvok in charge. With a heavy heart, she beamed back up, intend on coming back as soon as possible. Meanwhile, she had to tell Samantha Wildman her daughter was lost on a Delta Quadrant planet…and that she was responsible.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've come to the realisation that whenever I was writing Janeway, I was making her very British - cultural references etc ... I do know she's American, but I think I'm influenced by her taste for Victorian holo-novels and possibly KM's Irish background ... Anyway - I hope it's not too jarring !   
> now for more angst ...

Ensign Samantha Wildman had been the very model of a modern Starfleet ensign. She had listened calmly to what her captain told her – that Naomi had somehow got lost on the planet and that everything was being done to find her – and had thanked Janeway for that. And then, she had said that she had every confidence her daughter would be found and that the captain shouldn’t worry too much. Janeway, unsettled by this quiet acceptance, had blinked wildly to keep from completely humiliating herself by starting to cry and had offered her most sincere apologies while agreeing that yes, of course, Naomi would be found. Ensign Wildman had asked to be sent with one of the search parties and Janeway hadn’t had the heart to forbid it. Then, as she was trying to get her captain’s mask back on, she had been assaulted by a furious Neelix, asking her exactly how she could have lost Naomi, and she had sent him sharply back to his pots and pans, not in the mood for explanations.

And now, she was trying to negotiate with her first officer, whose placid stubbornness infuriated her.

“I have to go back down, Chakotay! I’m responsible for losing her – I have to be there.”

“And what exactly do you suppose you’ll accomplish, Captain? You’ve already searched for her nearly half a day – why don’t you trust Tuvok and the others to do their jobs?”

He looked at her and frowned – he had insisted on her taking shore leave because she had looked exhausted, and he knew for a fact that she hadn’t been sleeping or eating properly for several weeks. Now, she looked somehow thinner than she had at 0700 hours and her eyes were rimmed red and underscored by dark shadows.

“I do”, she replied forcefully. “You know I do! Anyway, why am I discussing this with you? I’m going back down, and that’s final. It’s not exactly like you can forbid me to!”

“I can’t,” agreed Chakotay. At least she had lost none of her combativity. “But the Doctor can, and believe me, Kathryn, I won’t hesitate to involve him. You’re exhausted and in no shape to go back until you’ve had several hours of rest.”

She stood up, hands flat on her desk and tried to stare him down. Chakotay waited. She got out from behind the desk and came to stand just in front of him, blue eyes as cold as diamonds looking straight into hers– he thought wryly that he wouldn’t like to be a wayward ensign being chastised by this captain. And then, just as he was going to reiterate his threat to involve the Doctor, she crumpled and half-sat on her desk, burying her face in her hands and crying softly. When he took her in his arms, she didn’t protest and rested her head against his broad shoulder. “What if she’s dead, Chakotay?” he heard her stutter through her tears. “A child alone, and it’s now been nearly fifteen hours. And I would have killed her…”

“Shh” He held her tight and let her cry her anguish out. All the tensions of the last few months – and there had been many – had come to crystallise in Naomi going missing, and he knew she wasn’t crying only for that. Her tears were for having stranded her ship in the Delta Quadrant, for the crewmen she had lost, for her incapacity to keep them all safe, and for the erosion after four hard years of her certitude they would ever go back home. Finally she pushed back and wiped her eyes like a child on her sleeve.

“I’m sorry, Commander. I shouldn’t…”

She was using his rank. He knew she was trying to get back in control, both of her ship and herself. He nodded: “Quite all right.”

She went on quietly: “You’re right – I’ll stay here for a few hours. Thank you.”

He nodded and went back to the bridge. Left alone in her ready room, Janeway sat heavily back down in her chair and buried her face in her hands. Then she rose, went to her quarters and attempted to read but found herself staring at the pages without taking anything in. They had to find Naomi!

When her com badge sizzled, she grabbed it sleepily and almost barked “yes?” into it. She glanced at the clock and noticed it was 0600 hours. So she had dozed off after all. She listened to Tuvok’s report – still nothing, but they were expanding the search and the Cornuri equivalent of the police had started searching the houses. Completely unable to fall back asleep, she went to take a sonic shower and ordered coffee from the replicator. She gulped the dark beverage down and decided to go and relieve Chakotay on the bridge, realising that because of her stupidity he had been on duty for more than twenty-four hours straight. She quickly realised she was biting everyone’s head off for no reason at all and she left the bridge to Harry Kim.

Instead of going to Engineering, which had been her first thought and where she had enough sense left to realise she probably wouldn’t be welcome – the reason they had stopped at the planet in the first place was a problem in the dilithium matrix which hadn’t yet been solved, and adding her mood to B’Elanna was sure to result in sparks – she ended up pacing several decks, unable to sit still. She remembered when as a teenager she had decided to walk home after having lost her tennis match. She wanted to punish herself for her failure and had ended up getting lost in the dark. Her father had rescued her – but Naomi’s father was thousands of light-years away, in another quadrant, and did not even know he had a daughter. And that too was all her fault – if she hadn’t stranded them in the Delta Quadrant because of her almighty principles, Naomi would have a father…Unable to face Neelix in the mess hall but sorely in need of more coffee, she stopped pacing and went to her ready room.

Cup in hand, she decided she would beam back down whether Chakotay liked it or not. She gulped her coffee and just as she was about to leave for the transporter room, her com badge piped up again.

“Yes, Tuvok?”

Even in the Vulcan’s voice the relief was obvious, but she could hear something else too – he wasn’t completely happy about the situation. She, though, was so thankful she sank down in her chair and exhaled deeply. The Cornuri police had found the child and contacted Tuvok. He had seen her – she was tired, hungry, a little bruised but appeared to have suffered no real harm. The Cornuri, however, had refused to release her to Tuvok’s care, or even to her mother’s, but insisted on having the person responsible for her escapade come to collect her. Fifteen minutes later, Janeway was back on the planet.


	3. Chapter 3

Janeway had beamed directly to the Princepa’s headquarters and was met by several women who represented the Cornuri government. She was informed that the Princepa – their ruler – was waiting for her with her people. She squared her shoulders and followed them to a room very similar to the top offices at Starfleet Headquarters, where she found Tuvok and his team. Samantha Wildman was not with them and Tuvok told her immediately that she was with Naomi. The Princepa sitting behind the table remained seated and did not offer a chair to Janeway. When they had talked before Voyager’s arrival on the planet, the Princepa had been welcoming and friendly – the woman Janeway was facing now could have been carved in stone and when she spoke, her voice was dripping with icicles:

“I have been informed by Mr Tuvok that you are the one responsible for letting the child get lost, “captain””

The scorn in her voice when she said Janeway’s title was now obvious. Janeway bristled a little, but her guilt moderated her outrage.

“I was”, she replied briefly.

“Were you aware that any kind of child abuse is considered as a criminal offence on Cornuri, captain? You may not consider them important on your own planet, but Cornurian children are precious to us and as their number is limited, any crime against them is severely punished.”

“Limited?”, questioned Janeway, her scientific curiosity getting the better of her , before she added: “And of course children are protected on Earth too!”

The Princepa looked as her pityingly: “Cornurian women can only bear one child, and some of our castes are barren – therefore, only a small number of children is born.”

“I see,” replied the captain, not quite seeing, but feeling all the heaviness of the previous day bear on her shoulders. She wanted to be back on her ship, preferably in her bed or under a water shower.

“Enough discussion – are you ready to obey our laws and accept our sentence, Captain Janeway?”

“Sentence? Princepa, on our planet, we hold a trial before we sentence someone!”

“We usually do too,” assented the Princepa. “But there is no need – you stated your guilt.”

Janeway swallowed hard – talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place – she had, indeed, admitted her guilt without even knowing what the consequences would entail. That had been extremely foolish of her, and not something she would have done in normal circumstances not involving extreme stress and exhaustion. For all she knew, she could be sentenced to life imprisonment – or even death. They had encountered merciless cultures, and as she was bound by Starfleet directives, she had to submit to alien laws. She couldn’t help glancing at Tuvok with fear in her eyes. Did he know? Was it why he had not been perfectly satisfied with getting Naomi back? Surely if she was going to be imprisoned or killed, he would have kept her away from Cornuri? Or maybe he knew her too well, and knew she would sacrifice herself to uphold Starfleet principles, even at the cost of her own life. She took a deep breath and turned back towards the Principa, who was now flanked by several strong-looking women.

“I have. And I accept your sentence,” she replied, trying to keep her voice steady.

The Principa inclined her head.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had two ideas for the end of this story - this chapter is the "milder" end ; if you don't mind a little violence, you can read Chapter 5, an alternative ending.

“Very well. Captain Janeway, of the starship Voyager, you have hereby been sentenced to a session of remediation by CWM.”

That didn’t sound like her life would be in danger, thought Janeway, although… “CWM?” she asked.

“Cortex Waves Manipulation. Our device which will enable you to experience your victim’s basic emotions during her ordeal. You shall not be physically harmed. This has proved an effective deterrent against such crimes.”

Janeway glanced at Tuvok again – they had seen on many occasions how mind manipulation could destroy someone. He spoke up: “As much as I wish this was not happening, Captain, I do not think they will indeed harm you.”

Janeway tried to find comfort in that. “All right”, she said. “I’m ready.”

The Princepa waved her hand and two of the guards moved to escort Janeway out of the room. They led her to a bare room, with only a chair and a panel of command. She was ordered to sit in the chair and one of the guards secured her wrists on it. The same guard then explained: “This room will become dark and then the CWM will begin. You will not move until it’s over and we release you.”

Janeway gritted her teeth and nodded. She had been expecting electrodes on her head but instead the guard moved towards the command panel, equipped herself with a headset and switched off the lights.

At first, Janeway tried to accustom her eyes to the darkness, but it was too deep to be penetrated and she gave up, closing them. And then it began. The darkness seeped into her, invading her very bones. Terror. Pure and simple terror. She was small, she was alone, and she was terrified. Flashes of memories from her own childhood irrupted in her mind, times when as a toddler she had got herself separated from her mother, times when at school she had been momentarily “the new girl” and therefore ostracised…Fear imbued her sense. And now, other sensations – not memories, not her own anyway, but hundred, thousand of memories of terrified children. Cold…Dampness…Pain…And always this deep sense of dread, of panic, of helplessness. She thought she screamed – or maybe she was too scared too scream. She fought her restraints. She opened her eyes in the darkness and closed them again. Her shallow breaths didn’t give her lungs enough air – she suffocated. And then darkness took over.

“Where am I ?” murmured Janeway as she tried to sit up. Then she saw the Doctor’s and Chakotay’s faces bent over hers. She was in Voyager’s sickbay.

“Tuvok transported you back, Captain,” said the Doctor. “You will be fine – I had to rearrange a few neuro-patterns, but you will be fine.”

Chakotay took her hand and pressed it: “It’s all over, Kathryn. Everyone is back on Voyager and we’ll depart as soon as you give the order. It seems that you had an unexpected side-effect to the…” He grimaced: “CWM. You fell in a coma-like sleep. The Cornuri did apologise for that.”

“Oh, they did, did they?” murmured Janeway. “Please give the order to leave, Commander – I’ve seen about all I wanted to of Cornuri.”

He pressed her hand again and left for the bridge. Janeway tried to get up but the Doctor frowned at her: “Not yet – you need to rest a while longer, Captain.”

She sighed but laid back down. She tried to close her eyes, but it only brought back the fear. So she laid there, eyes wide open, until the Doctor took pity on her and let her beam back to her quarters.

A few hours later, the door buzzed and Chakotay came into her quarters. She had put on comfortable clothes and was reclining on her armchair with a book. She had troubles following the story – she was exhausted, but each time she closed her eyes, she saw the darkness and felt the fear. Chakotay’s presence was a welcome distraction.

He came to stand closer and looked at her.

“I don’t believe you, Captain!” he started. “What the hell? You let them get into your brain? Have you lost your mind?”

She held up her hand for silence: “Please – please don’t rant and rave at me. You know I didn’t have any other choice. You’ve been to the Academy – you know the rules as well as I do.”

“You and your bloody rules! They could have killed you, Kathryn! For nothing!”

“But they didn’t kill me – and it was not for nothing – I did lose Naomi, Commander,” replied Janeway quietly.

“Naomi is fine!” Chakotay had lowered his tone a little, but not much, and it didn’t help Janeway’s growing headache. She winced and he immediately looked sorry. He came to sit on the couch beside her and took her hand. She pressed it back and encouraged, he put his arm around her shoulders.

“Your sense of guilt is going to get you killed one of those days,” he growled.

“I’m sorry, Chakotay,” murmured Janeway. “I had to. I don’t expect you to understand, but I had to. How is Naomi, really? Did you see her?”

“I saw her and she’s really all right. She just spent a night sleeping rough, and she told me she was a little afraid at first, but now she’s very proud because she had an adventure. And I might have told her Academy cadets had to do that sort of thing during their studies, so now she’s even more convinced she wants to join Starfleet when she grows up.”

“Good. You’re good with children, Chakotay. I hope – when you get back… You can have a family.”

“And if I don’t, it will be all your fault, that’s it? Please, Kathryn – please stop. You’re not responsible for every ill in this world – or in any world.”

“If you say so,” she replied wryly, laying her head delicately on his shoulder. They remained like this in silence for a few minutes, until Chakotay heard her breathing become more regular and realised she had fallen asleep. He would happily have stayed like that all night, but he had to get back to the bridge – they did not need to stay in Cornuri’s orbit any longer than absolutely necessary. He moved gently and helped her to lie down – she did not stir. Before he left, he kissed her on her brow, pushing aside the stray strands of hair, and lowered the light.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternative ending - more violent

“I have. And I accept your sentence,” she replied, trying to keep her voice steady.

The Principa inclined her head.

“Very well. Captain Janeway, of the starship Voyager, you have hereby been sentenced to a netmari of sixty sundra.”

“I’m sorry?” The translator had been stumped by the two words, and that did not happen often – however, it had at the most inconvenient moment.

“A sundra is about equivalent to two of our minutes, Captain,” said Tuvok. “I do not know the other term.”

Janeway turned back towards the Princepa, who signalled to one of the guards beside her. The guard left and came back with a thin, long, mean-looking cane in her hands. Janeway shivered involuntarily. She had been tortured before – the Cardassians had not been gentle. She had been punched and kicked, she had faced extreme situations that had left her in agonising physical pain, but she had never been beaten “legally” before and she had to admit it scared her. She had no choice, however. She took her eyes off the dreadful instrument and faced the Princepa again.

“I will respect your laws. I’m ready.”

“We shall proceed. Do you want your crewman to go with you? Or do you want someone else from your ship” asked the Princepa. “You are allowed a witness.”

“No!” She didn’t even have to think about it – there was no way she was going to have someone she knew witness her ordeal.

“Then we shall proceed.” The Princepa gestured to the guards and two women came to take Janeway by the arms and lead her out of the room. They weren’t brutal, but they weren’t gentle either – they were… Business-like. Their destination, it appeared, was a mostly bare room, with a contraption in the middle which looked like a pommel horse with straps. On the wall hung several implements and Janeway gulped. For a technologically advanced civilisation, their judicial system appeared rather barbaric. She was almost glad she had been sentenced to a caning and not something worse.

“Take off your clothes and go and bend over the vanti” , said one of the guards.

“Take off my clothes?”, repeated Janeway, thinking the translator had bugged again.

“Yes – the netmari is always realised on the bare skin,” explained one of the women. “It is our custom.”

Janeway slowly diverted herself of her jacket and grey top and pulled down her trousers, remaining standing in her underwear.

“This too,” said the woman, pointing at Janeway’s knickers and bra. Janeway blushed scarlet and implored the guard with her eyes, but the woman remained impassive. She wasn’t prudish, but neither was she particularly comfortable with her body, especially since there had been much more sitting down at her desk or in her commanding chair than sport sessions in the holodeck in the last months. Once she was completely naked, her hands went immediately to protect her modesty but the guard soon had her pushed over the horse and secured with the straps. She heard a scuffle behind her, a whoosh of air and she screamed…

Pain. Intense, searing pain. An agony of waiting for the next strike and a burning misery when the cane hit. Soon she didn’t know the difference anymore, lost in the torment of pain. In the end, she probably lost consciousness as well, because when she next opened her eyes, she was lying on her front in a well-lit room. She blinked and tried to rise, wanting to know where she was, but a voice stopped her: “Don’t move, Captain – some of your injuries still need to cicatrise.”

“Doctor?” she murmured.

“Yes – you’re aboard Voyager, in sick bay. I’ve been treating your back and your…err…lower back. Tuvok explained what happened – he transported you directly back here.”

She closed her eyes again – so Tuvok had seen her beaten and bruised…and naked.

“Would you – err – like to see anyone, Captain? Mr Chakotay has asked several times about you.”

“No!” she yelped, jerking, and eliciting another twinge of pain in the process.

“I’m sorry, Captain,” said the Doctor. “I haven’t been able to give you a sedative strong enough to eradicate all the pain. If I did, your body wouldn’t be able to repair itself properly. Even like this, there might be scars we’ll need to treat further down the line.”

“Thank you, Doctor – I’m sure you did your best” said Janeway in a low voice. “I’d just like to be left alone for a while – you can tell Mr Chakotay I’ll see him in my quarters in…Two hours. And please make sure I’m back in my quarters by then”, she added, just a touch of steel in her tone.

The Doctor grimaced but nodded: “Yes, Captain.”

Two hours afterwards, she was sitting very upright in her quarters, careful not to let her back touch the sofa. It hurt enough to sit down, even though she was wearing the softest silk pyjamas she had, without any underwear. She had quickly brushed her hair and put a little lipstick on, but it had hurt to lift her arms and she had decided it would do. The Commander had probably seen her in worse shape.

The door buzzed and Chakotay stepped in. He came to stand closer and looked at her.

“I don’t believe you, Captain!” he started. “What the hell? You let them beat you? Have you lost your mind?”

She held up her hand for silence: “Please – please don’t rant and rave at me. You know I didn’t have any other choice. You’ve been to the Academy – you know the rules as well as I do.”

“You and your bloody rules! They could have killed you, Kathryn! For nothing!”

“But they didn’t kill me – and it was not for nothing – I did lose Naomi, Commander,” replied Janeway quietly.

“Naomi is fine!” Chakotay had lowered his tone a little, but not much, and it didn’t help Janeway’s growing headache. She winced and he immediately looked sorry. He came to sit on the couch beside her and took her hand – he wanted to take her in his arms but the Doctor had told him the extent of the damage and he was afraid he would hurt her. “Your sense of guilt is going to get you killed one of those days,” he growled.

“I’m sorry, Chakotay,” murmured Janeway. “I had to. I don’t expect you to understand, but I had to. How is Naomi, really? Did you see her?”

“I saw her and she’s really all right. She just spent a night sleeping rough, and she told me she was a little afraid at first, but now she’s very proud because she had an adventure. And I might have told her Academy cadets had to do that sort of thing during their studies, so now she’s even more convinced she wants to join Starfleet when she grows up.”

“Good. You’re good with children, Chakotay. I hope – when you get back… You can have a family.”

“And if I don’t, it will be all your fault, that’s it? Please, Kathryn – please stop. You’re not responsible for every ill in this world – or in any world.”

“If you say so,” she replied wryly, laying her head delicately on his shoulder. They remained like this in silence for a few minutes, until Chakotay heard her breathing become more regular and realised she had fallen asleep. He would happily have stayed like that all night, but he had to get back to the bridge – they did not need to stay in Cornuri’s orbit any longer than absolutely necessary. He moved gently and helped her on her side – she did not stir. Before he left, he kissed her on her brow, pushing aside the stray strands of hair, and lowered the light.


End file.
